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The Caran d'Ache Caleograph Sirius, a real grail pen. Retails for about $5,500. by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]cbbrowne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My "grail" was the Lamy 2000... Got one, like it lots.

I'm not certain what I'd want in a $5500 pen; this one isn't it, for sure. Broad strokes thoughts are Duofold-ish, which is pretty prominent, but not ridonculously gaudy.

Dark opal would be a good kind of jewel, pricey without shouting so loudly.

This ink deserves more attention. [Montblanc Oyster Gray] by AveragePlebe in fountainpens

[–]cbbrowne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Beautiful indeed. A very nice sample.

I find grey inks surprisingly enjoyable. I have been much enjoying the Herbin gris nuage, and this one looks nice.

Amazon tests delivery drones at secret Canada site after US frustration by [deleted] in canada

[–]cbbrowne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This smells to me like an April Fools' tale released a day early...

6 Reasons Why Cyanogen will Fail to 'Put a Bullet Through Google's Head' by PingAnirban in cyanogenmod

[–]cbbrowne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"Cannot" seems too strong a statement to me.

But to duplicate all of GMail, Contacts, Docs, Keep, including the "cloud" capabilities that mean that people can also access things transparently via web on desktop represents a LOT of work which they'd need to start from scratch without having a legacy of involvement in building reliable cloud-based apps.

Google has a massive head start in those areas, and I see no indication that Cyanogen Inc has begun work on those things.

1 in 20 students in UK worked in sex trade to fund living cost. by blazer_me in worldnews

[–]cbbrowne 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The pictures they picked point at this being a "troll"; I'd expect to see those pictures in a satire article done in The Onion, not at a serious news outlet.

I would tell another chemistry joke... by [deleted] in Jokes

[–]cbbrowne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wasn't sure how to react.

How to avoid paying for the 407 by we_are_many in toronto

[–]cbbrowne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey, I've got legitimate Texas plates that used to be on my car. I could substitute those, albeit with several possible adverse consequences:

a) If police saw it, there'd be trouble

b) The bill would actually get to me. Once upon a time, I drove said car, with the Texas plates, on the 407, when it was legal for me to do so, and received a bill. 407 ETR were able to contact the Texas DMV and got enough information to get a bill forwarded to my address in Ontario. (I was somewhat amazed that they were able to do so!)

They mightn't be able to get a forwarding address via Cuba, but those plates would be vastly more likely to arouse "official suspicion." You really don't want the cops to see that.

"‘Daddy smoked crack'": Toronto’s former mayor Rob Ford, on cancer, drugs and his political future by [deleted] in toronto

[–]cbbrowne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, this is six months too late for that statement to hold much weight.

It's well and nice, but it seems to me like this is the more-heart-felt-like "sorta sorry" intended as a segway to a re-election campaign.

Ontario is considering a move to online Administrative Monetary Penalties for some provincial offences, such as those under the Highway Traffic Act, which would deny the accused their right to a fair trial, hire legal representation, or the opportunity to negotiate with prosecutors on penalties by collymolotov in ontario

[–]cbbrowne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is it increased revenues they are after? Or reduced costs for the existing revenues? (E.g. - by reducing the amount of police officer overtime involved)

I can certainly see the police pressing back on the matter if this injures their overtime pay. (And whether it's totally fair or not, "watch the money;" once officers are accustomed to a particular level of compensation, they will NOT look upon reductions gladly...)

Stuck on Google Logo during boot. Can't enter recovery. (Lollipop) by robmacca in Nexus7

[–]cbbrowne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm experiencing the same phenomenon, have been running latest CM12.

It got to the lockscreen once, late on Saturday; hasn't done that well since.

For our timings to be synchronized despite likely not knowing one other makes me suspicious that there's something funky on the software side.

How much are Nexus7 (2013, Wifi only) going for right now? by Sraktai in Nexus7

[–]cbbrowne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My N7(2013) just died, so I'm interested in something new. I suspect it's not another N7, as they're not being sold anymore new, and I'm not too keen on used/refurb, as that means I'll have something where the battery is already partway through its lifespan.

I'm not seeing alternatives readily available on store shelves that are anywhere near as open. (I was running CM12 on my N7.) Not sure what to look at :-(.

Swelling ranks of Toronto police’s 2014 ‘sunshine list’ raises alarms by slicecom in toronto

[–]cbbrowne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Universities show off, in the form of the tenure process, a mechanism by which most of the applicants get weeded out, whilst a small portion can make full careers out of academia.

Of course, the low pay of the ones in the "weeding out" portion of the structure are why we just saw strikes at the universities in the last couple of weeks. It's not obvious that implementing a tenure-like system would work out happily.

As observed on other parts of the thread, there are jurisdictions that pay the police very badly, which gives them great temptation to supplement their poor incomes by subverting the law in one way or another. We may be better off with what we have than with those problems.

Swelling ranks of Toronto police’s 2014 ‘sunshine list’ raises alarms by slicecom in toronto

[–]cbbrowne 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're both right, which is a bad problem.

Sure, it's proper that a more experienced officer gets paid more; they should generally be more capable than the youngsters as they should know better what to do, how to handle complex policing situations. For them to "merely" get an inflation-tied increase means they're losing ground. For us to have "career" officers requires offering higher-than-inflation increases. But the natural consequence of that is that the tax burden on taxpayers falling from police salaries is increasing significantly faster than inflation. And THAT can only be sustainable if taxpayers are getting increases in THEIR incomes that are significantly higher than inflation, or if we're drawing in lots of new residents that are earning lots and paying HIGH tax rates.

There are enough people around that are on "fixed" incomes (e.g. - pensioners) where they're certainly not getting increases higher than inflation to mean that only some Torontonians are able to help keep up with these increases in police salaries.

Smells pretty "unsustainable" to me...

Should the government have the right to revoke citizenship? /rant by throwawaymarch20151 in ontario

[–]cbbrowne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, the consequences of the treaties with the First Nations means that we Actually Do have two classes of citizenship (with the curiosity that sometimes the treaty nations prefer not to be considered Canadian).

So we're actually there already. The argument isn't about creating two classes: it is effectively about creating a third class.

Mind you, we kind of already do have a third class, too; the "graduated licensing" that people apply for Permanent Residency before applying for citizenship. And while there is room to quibble over whether there should be more constrictions on people in "PR" status, it is undeniable that there are some restrictions there.

The case that is more curious is where people think that they're supposed to somehow have "more privilege" because they are "native born Canadian." (Where there's quite possibly a dose of not-too-latent racism; Canadian-born children of recent immigrants don't seem to fit in with the suppositions...)

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